The Best Lessons from The Two Worst Instructors

It’s likely “Alexander” and Prospero the Enchanter would not be allowed to take on students in today’s educational world. But it doesn’t mean we can’t learn life lessons from Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus.

Through the aura of underground magic in the 1800s, late nights, savory food, and fantastic illusions, the novel makes commentary on the world through its multi-character narratives.  Despite the fact that The Night Circus is classified as adult literature, not even YA, it still speaks to the child—the magic—within us all.

When Alexander and Hector make the deal for Celia to participate in the challenge, risking her life, Alexander charms their conversation so that Celia can’t understand it, a trick Celia notices. The last line of the section states, “He takes his top hat from its stand and puts it on her head, where it slides down and obscures her questioning eyes in a cage of black silk” (Morgenstern 32).

Children tend to see through the smokescreen adults use to cover things up, even if they don’t fully understand everything. Kids are much smarter than we give them credit for, and they see events with questioning eyes. Plus, the black silk metaphor is effective foreshadowing for Celia, and later, Marco’s, life. Celia is practically caged by her father. He controls where she goes, what she does, and even what she eats, which is practically nothing as she grows older. Marco is similarly imprisoned by Alexander.

As people grow older, their childlike trust and wonder, as seen in the observant Marco when he leaves the orphanage with Alexander, may diminish. As a 19-year-old, Marco states, “People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see” (Morgenstern 40).

In terms of personal relationships, politics, magicians, or card-reading, questioning how you perceive the world around you, and who may be influencing those views—and what motives they have—is a critical aspect of growing up. Questioning despite the black silk cage is a good thing.

Our final lesson has its roots in Alexander’s words:

“‘People are naïve about such things,” Marco says, a phrase often repeated by his instructor as both admonishment and warning. ‘And they would rather write them off as evil than attempt to understand them. An unfortunate truth, but a truth nonetheless’” (Morgenstern 47).

Using magic or another form of “otherness” as a metaphor to discuss discrimination is prevalent in literature from Harry Potter’s Mudbloods to the Maximum Ride series, where children are experimented on and put in cages and studied, exploited for their talents much like Celia is. Plus, people’s reaction to those who are different are often violent and prejudiced, and it’s an issue that perhaps literature like The Night Circus can teach the next wave of young adults or current adults, how to navigate.

The Night Circus is a reminder to examine how you interact with the world, and to create your own magic.